How to Estimate Laminate Flooring (With Offcut Reuse)
Rows, stagger, offcut reuse and the waste that actually happens — order planks and boxes like a fitter.
Measure the room, not the brochure
Measure each area at its widest and longest points, and break L-shaped rooms into rectangles. Deduct nothing for the skirting — but remember the 10–12 mm expansion gap at every wall and fixed object, which the Flooring calculator subtracts from each row automatically.
Rows first, then planks per row
Rows come from room width divided by plank width; each row needs the room length in planks. Naive rounding per row is where most estimates go wrong — it ignores that the end cut of one row starts the next.
Offcut reuse is where boxes are saved
Keep every end piece longer than about 300 mm and use it as the starter of a later row. The calculator simulates exactly this greedy best-fit reuse — on a medium room it typically saves a full box versus naive rounding.
Add waste for the pattern, not for safety
Straight and staggered layouts need 7–10%, diagonals 12%, herringbone 15%. Boards damaged during click-assembly and doorway trims live inside these numbers — anything more is money on the shelf.
Order once, from one batch
Buy every box in a single order from the same production batch: shade and bevel differ between runs, and mid-floor patching shows. Check the batch codes on the box ends before opening — the same discipline as the dye-lot note in the Tile calculator.